the cameron highlands are beautiful. i took a night bus from kota bharu. the guy next to me was hesitant to sit by a girl, i think that's the reason he stood there for 15 mins with confusion. i had such a hard time sleeping next to him. he folded his arms over his belly so one elbow was always touching me. not so bad except he kept having fits in his dream, shaking and jolting, i'd wake up, ahhhh, try to get in a smaller space. oh it was hopelss. when we'd break from the bus he'd go outside and hack it up. i've never heard someone asks this of their lungs before (besides my brother after taking enormous bong hits). not a great bus ride. i'll tell a story a guy from holland told me. his name is sticks (when i asks him how he got that name he said, "how does anyone get their name, from their parents") sticks was in china, he was totally grossed out by the chinese people (these are his words) he told me the babies are naked, when they ride a bus the parents just hold them out the window to shit. so the passengers behind the baby get shit in their faces. he said don't worry because the people don't really care if they have shit ont heir face or shoulder. i thought that was interesting. he also told me, he was taking a shower one day and a guy came in to take a shit (i guess both these stories are about shit) in asia the showers and toilets are one small room. usually a squat toilet and a shower hose nearby and a sink. not separation. so sticks said this guy came in started taking a shit right in front of him, which sticks said was bad enough but then the sticks realized he was peeing on sticks leg. hahaha i thought it was pretty funny. i meet sticks and a german girl in penang, malaysia a few weeks ago. we had a fun time eating the local food. malay food is quite different from thai food. there is many different cultures living here from all over asia-indian, tribal indonesian, chinese, thai and close countries, philippine, european (not noticeable). i love the indian food, it's so different than thai food, pungent and comforting. but not so nutritious. not many veggies, lots of curry and naan or other indian bread. i love this one kind of indian bread, it's fermented rice (mmmmmfermentation) then grilled on skillet with ghee. ohhh it's good and so different from what i ate for 3 months. malay food is like a mixture of indian food (sort of) and thai food without the chillies. it's ok. noodle soup of course resides on the streets here, as it does in all of asia. now i miss thai food desperately. mostly i miss chillies. ohhh chillies make my mouth water when i think of them. when i eat them i can feel the energy intensely moving throughout my body, it brings me an extrmeme calming effect. especially when your mouth is on fire and you get hot (temp) food, oh this is good. at first it's very painful, but it grows on you. i miss all the veggies and fruits in thailand too. malays love deep fried foods and they eat a lot of refined flour and sugar products. malaysia is the most westernized country in asia, called "new asia", english is the second language. everyone speaks malay, but maybe chinese or indian or thai or something at home. in kuala lumpur, where i am now, the biggest city in malaysia, the sky scrappers are tall and i believe the highest towers resides in the city. the malay script is written in the alphabet, not like thai with it's own fascinating script, so i can read sighs and things, pronouns them out loud. anyway enough of the chitterchat. i'm in kl (kuala lumpur) to catch a plane to sabah, east malaysia. specifically sandakan. i found a great deal (134 ringett) $35us. neat. sandakan is very close to indonesia. i'm really really super duper excited about indonesia. i've wanted to go, for some reason, my entire life. i didn't think i'd get there this trip, but i am!! after exploring sabah, then part of kalimantan, i'll take a ship to sulawesi. ooooooow. i'm hungry now...i haven't even wrote anything about cameron highlands, except that they're beautiful. i'll come back and write about the serious jungle walks i went on with my friend simon. what to eat-last night i had chicken feet in broth with lettuce and a little chilly (though not nearly hot enough) yes i ate the whole thing and they were delicious.